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For many years I have struggled to find a family of rural foxes which I was able to photograph. Most rural foxes, and rightly so, are very wary of people and I usually don't want to disturb them. This year though, I stuck gold when out cycling, I cam across a family of foxes sunbathing on a rural lane, so I decided to head back to photograph them. Upon arriving at the site I couldn't see anything, but I decided to stick it out and I was richly rewarded ...        As you can see, even a rural road gets traffic. Each time a car appeared, all of the cubs jumped into the hedgerow, taking cover in their earth and keeping out of trouble. Sadly, only a few days after I took the photo above, I found the body of this cub hidden in the hedge. It had been hit by a car and purposefully placed out of sight, it was a devastating blow and I was unable to photograph the family again - rightly so, the remaining cubs were very wary. It just goes to show the fragility of the natural world and the massive negative impact humanity has on the natural world.
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I explore an area of the South Downs National Park which is rich in wildlife, with a wide variety of species. However, red fox are a species which are particularly hard to photograph in rural areas and here it is no different. I have been trying to find a fox den for years, but without any luck. At the start of May I was walking down a track which is rarely used. The grass was already high and bending over the tyre marks, but there some fifty yards away was a fox cub. At first I thought the poor thing must have passed away, but as I crept up to where it was, I noticed it was breathing. I sat back and watched it shuffle a couple of times, trying to get comfortable and so I slowly made my approach. To my astonishment, the fox cub stayed fast asleep, the ears didn’t even twitch as I crept ever closer. Eventually I was probably ten yards away and I just sat there watching. What an incredible privilege, what joy I had over the next fifteen moments or so. o edit.   Eventually the cub woke up, realised I was a potential threat and trotted off into the woods. I knew at this age the cub couldn’t be far from the den so I headed up into the woods and within minutes I had found the earth. I sat and waited by a nearby tree and was then treated to the following close encounter. I will never fully be able to comprehend the close approach of one of four fox cubs that evening, but it was an encounter that will stick with me for a long time.   So after a busy evening already photographing the Fox cubs, the Roe Deer that turned up at the Fox den decided to hang around for a wee while and I photographed it for a few minutes before it moved off. I decided to head up the hill towards the local footpath and then back home. When I got to the top of the hill I noticed a young Roe Buck as well as a Doe. The wind was in my favour and I was able to get incredibly close, which of course meant I managed to get some images. I spent around 10 minutes getting closer and closer until the wind changed and the Doe got spooked, moments later the Buck moved off too. So a really productive evening again, Ropley is really providing the goods right now. 
Two sets of images for you this week. To start with the Barn Owl was out hunting again, over the water meadows at work. It is an amazing sight but slightly worrying seeing it out in the daylight again. On the Sunday I went round to see a friend and with the camera on standby I went to see whether I would have any luck photographing some Fox Cubs. Luckily for me one of the little devils was cooperative and rather inquisitive. A lovely set of sightings for one weekend and I hope you like the photos ...       I have recently acquired a Bushnell Trophy camera trap and thought it would be great to set it up in the paddock. After a few nights of still shots I thought I would try some video and got some cracking results as you can see! I believe the badger is one indivdiual from a family who regularly use our paddock in search of food. We often find holes and spraint left by these industrious animals. This Red Fox seems to be suffering from mange but I know for a fact that another much healthier fox also uses the paddock and hopefully I will be able to put up some footage soon. With our chickens nearby I have to be careful not attract these opportunistic animals to the paddock too often.
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